We are glad for the overwhelming response from the profession to the online open access journal. We have received several articles from all over the world for publication. These are being peer reviewed for appropriate decision. In this issue, we are presenting six original articles and the foremost being the observational study on Depressive episodes.

Depression is known to be the fourth leading contributor to the global burden of disease. A systemic review revealed that the evidence for the effectiveness of homoeopathy in treating depression is limited due to lack of clinical trials of high quality.[1]The Council has undertaken the study on depressive episodes wherein internationally accepted outcome scales were employed. The results show that during the course of treatment of 6 months and 6 months of observation period the patients were benefitted significantly, as measured by Hamilton Depression Rating scale.[2]Further, these results can form the basis for designing a multicenteric study to reproduce the results in different setting or take up an efficacy study.

In clinical practice,Fucus vesiculosus is frequently used as a drug of choice for the management of obesity. This is a "marine alga' which is rich in iodine and used in alternative medicine as a laxative, diuretic and as a complement for slimming diets. It has been reported that that the presence of iodine stimulate thyroid function to the extent of producing hyperthyroidism, [3] which increases metabolism and helps in weight reduction. A study to assess the drug toxicity and pharmacological aspect of this drug on obesity-induced female albino rats is presented in this issue. The anti-obesity activity of this drug was assessed and it was found that Fucus could check the gain in body weight and also maintain the lipid profile within normal limits. [4]

Heliotropium peruvianum belongs to the family Boraginaceae and comprises of almost 1,600 species distributed throughout the world. Of these, 32 genera and about 140 species are found in India. Heliotropium peruvianum is commonly cultivated as a garden plant during winter and its flowers are strongly scented. [5] This is one of the medicinal plants used by the tribes in Tripura and Bangladesh for Dog bite. It has also been found that this plant has wound healing activity in rats. [6] The earlier studies on Heliotropium peruvianum pertaining pharmacognostic and physico-chemical standardization, in general, and homoeopathic perspective, in particular, are not available. The study of the leaves and young stem of the drug on these aspects is, therefore, novel in this regard and is being brought out here. [7]

Cyclosporin (CsA) has immunosuppressive properties, reflecting its ability to block the transcription of cytokine genes in activated T cells. [8] Despite being highly efficacious for prevention of organ transplant rejection, it has major adverse reactions like renal dysfunction and hypertension. [9] We are presenting the outcome of homoeopathic pathogenetic trial of CsA in 6C and 30C potencies. The study was undertaken at two centers on 33 volunteers. The symptoms noted shall now be subjected to clinical verification. [10]

In this issue, a case report of an adolescent suffering from paraphimosis with balanitis treated with Apis mellifica, Rhus toxicodendron, Cinnabaris, and Mercurius solubilis is being published for consideration; the prescribing strategy was not classical and needs further pondering. [11]

Hope the readers will be benefitted from this issue's features as much as we did while working on those!.